On June 11, Hunter Biden, the son of the president of the United States, was found guilty by a federal court in Wilmington of illegal possession of a firearm, a sentence that could put Joe Biden in difficulty ahead of the presidential elections in November.
Hunter Biden, 54, who overcame years of drug and alcohol addiction, is one of the favorite targets of the Republican Party, which considers him the president’s Achilles’ heel.
As soon as the trial in Wilmington, Delaware ended, the Democratic president reached his youngest son by helicopter, who he then embraced at an air base in the small north-eastern state.
“Jill and I love our son and are proud of the man he is today,” he wrote shortly before in a statement.
Biden, 81, had also pledged to respect the court’s decision and not to pardon his son if convicted.
This is the first criminal conviction of a son of a sitting US president.
Hunter Biden was found guilty of lying while filling out forms to purchase a firearm in 2018, denying a drug addiction.
He left the court smiling and holding hands with his wife Melissa Cohen Biden and his stepmother Jill Biden, the president’s wife.
In theory he could be sentenced to up to twenty-five years in prison, but in practice it is rare for such proceedings to lead to prison sentences.
Last September, the Republican Party initiated proceedings in Congress to remove President Biden, accusing him of having used his influence when he was Barack Obama’s vice president (2009-2017) to allow his son Hunter to do business in China and Ukraine.
However, no evidence was provided and no legal proceedings were initiated.
